Last Monday, we took off from Veracruz to go to COJUBASUR, a youth conference in the state of Tabasco about 5 more hours away. The campground was out in the middle of the jungle, and we drove through about 20 minutes of banana tree fields to get there. The place itself was beautiful. But it turned out just like we have always pictured youth camps here in Mexico, very, shall we say, rustic. There were 4 port o poddies for 250 people. The young people were all staying in tents (we didn’t know it would be like this; thus, we brought nothing to camp in). So, we went looking for a place to stay and ended up staying at a “water park” place about 2 km off the main road through cow pastures and bumpy road. We survived the night and made it to the next morning.
We took off to Veracruz on Sunday morning, stopping there on our way to a youth camp in Villahermosa. Veracruz is a beach town on the east coast that’s really popular with Mexicans, especially during Semana Santa (the week before Easter). It takes about 5 hours from Mexico City, and you get to pass through all sorts of cool mountains.
We stayed at a hotel with a great view of the Gulf of Mexico, but we were right on a main road, so the view was surpassed by the noise. Nathan loved the pool, though, with his cool new bathing suit.
We got a chance to go downtown, see the zocalo, or main downtown square. This is my favorite part of visiting most places in Mexico. The buildings are always so cool looking, and it’s a great place to get to see most of the culture of a given place. I even had the lucky chance to get pooped on by a pigeon. We also visited the Malecon, or the boardwalk area where there are lots of vendors. We topped off the evening with dinner at a restaurant on the beach.
We’re going to Veracruz! Although not on the original list of necessary trips, we have decided that it would be a good idea to go to a trip to Villahermosa, Tabasco, in April. During “Semana Santa” there is going to be a youth conference called COJUBASUR with around 300 young people from the south of the country attending.
We will be participating in it for one day only on the 11th of April, but it’s a great opportunity. We’ll be presenting the same information that we will use in May and September, but in a different format. It’s going to be a great opportunity to promote the seminary.
So, on the way to Tabasco, we will pass through the state of Veracruz. Instead of driving the 12 hours straight to Villahermosa, we’re going to stay on the beach on the way there and back in Veracruz. There’s no way we would want to travel the whole way through with Nathan, so we’re better off stopping for the night and spending some time resting while we’re at it. We’re pretty excited about both the time with the young people and the time at the beach.
Here’s the preview explanation of one of the trips on our list of necessary trips this year: May 5-8 � Leadership Conference in Guadalajara
This will be the first of 2 national student leadership conferences this year sponsored by the National Baptist Youth Union (UNBJ) of the Mexican Baptist Convention. We are expecting approximately 100 young people from the north of the country to attend this conference, and with the theme being, �What is Youth Ministry,� we have been working to develop the curriculum which will center around ministry relationships.
As far as youth ministry training goes, two of my youth ministry majors have also been involved in the planning and preparation for this workshop. They will be traveling with me to Guadalajara, and they will each be teaching a workshop, obtaining first-hand training experience as they teach some of what they have been taught throughout their time at the seminary. They are considered experts, and this has been a great opportunity for them to teach and think through youth ministry. It is also a good promotional and networking opportunity for the seminary�s youth ministry program.
Do you want to help support this trip? Email us.
Yesterday, Mexicans celebrated the day of the Virgin of Guadalupe. They say that millions of people made the pilgrimage to the Basilica where she first appeared to the indian Juan Diego. Here is the CNN story about it. Jim Cottrill has a good historical article about it on his blog.
It is a lot different when you live it and see it. We have visited the Basilica once, and it is a huge place. I couldn’t imagine being there when millions of people are there. When we visited, and we saw a few people crawling on their knees, but nothing, I’m sure, like the sight yesterday of 4 million people worshipping. There are shrines everywhere you go. Every taxi has a picture of her in it. We saw hundreds of people lined up to ride their bikes to the Basilica on Sunday. We heard the canons and fireworks on Sunday night. I wonder what Jesus thinks about it.
When you read stories like this one, you can’t help but think that it is a worship of someone other than Jesus. For many Mexicans, the Virgin is God. She is the one they worship more than Jesus. She is part of the trinity. In a culture that is very adoring of their mothers, one could expect to see some of this. I cannot help but wonder how all of this came about. Where does this devotion come from? It is definitely an interesting cultural phenomenon. It is a big challenge for evangelicals here in Mexico. Please pray for us as we try to minister in this culture.
We went with some of the young people of the church today to a mission church in Tula. We led the entire service. I preached. We at tacos. Then, we visited the ruins that are there.
On the way, a lady hit us while we were driving. I stopped at a speed bump. She didn’t see me, and she hit us. I got out to check it out, and everything was fine. there wasn’t even a scratch on the car, even though she hit us pretty hard (squealing tires, loud bang, and everything).
Then, we had 14 young people at our youth meeting tonight. We are planning a Christmas party for the 11th of December. They are really excited about it. Overall, it was a very good day. I’m exhausted, though.
